Blizzard announces 'Hearthstone' World Championships

This November, the world’s best Hearthstone players will finally compete to crown a global champion.

The Hearthstone World Championships will be held at BlizzCon, developer Blizzard's annual convention in Anaheim, Calif., the company announced earlier today. As one of the first international Hearthstone tournaments, it stands a good chance of establishing itself as a the premiere event for the brand new esport.

For Hearthstone, this kind of tournament seems inevitable.

The game, which went free-to-play for the general public in January, has been slowly picking up steam and attention by the larger esports industry. It’s already been featured in several large events, such as the IEM World Championships and ESGN’s Fight Night.

The Hearthstone World Championships will pit the top 16 players in the world, 4 from each of the major regions, against each other. The prize pool and a detailed schedule are still to be released, but the biggest thing to know is that the first step for any potential competitor is to compete in the game’s online ranked mode.

Top players from the online mode will be invited to regional qualifiers, which will seed directly into November’s event.